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'Club Nintendo is dead, long live the new loyalty program,' is the message from Nintendo this morning, after the company announced it's closing its current rewards service. Users in the US and Canada have until the end March to earn Club Nintendo Coins and until the close of June to redeem them, signalling when the service will finally hang up its brown boots.

"We thank all Club Nintendo members for their dedication to Nintendo games and their ongoing love for our systems and characters," said Nintendo of America executive VP Scott Moffit in the company's press release. "We want to make this time of transition as easy as possible for our loyal Club Nintendo members, so we are going to add dozens of new rewards and downloadable games to help members clear out their Coin balances."

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3dsamericaaustraliaclub-nintendodseuropejapannintendonintendo-of-americarewardswiiwii-uTue, 20 Jan 2015 05:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2014/12/03/etrian-mystery-dungeon-plots-odyssey-to-americas-in-2015/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/12/03/etrian-mystery-dungeon-plots-odyssey-to-americas-in-2015/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/12/03/etrian-mystery-dungeon-plots-odyssey-to-americas-in-2015/#comments
The Etrian Odyssey and Mystery Dungeon crossover is confirmed for the Americas, with Atlus publishing in spring 2015. Titled Etrian Mystery Dungeon, the 3DS mesh of RPG questing and roguelike dungeons is due on retail shelves and the eShop with a $40 price tag.

Along with today's announcement, Atlus revealed some details on what to expect from its latest marriage of series. Etrian Odyssey fans can level up heroes through familiar skill trees and "up to 10 classes" that include Landsknecht and Runemaster, before taking on dungeons in four-man parties. Meanwhile, Mystery Dungeon aficionados will be accustomed to the series' randomly generated, loot-stuffed dungeon crawl. As for the perspective, the roguelike wins out on that count; Etrian Mystery Dungeon goes with Spike Chunsoft's top-down, third-person perspective rather than Etrian Odyssey's traditional first-person view.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3dsamericaamericasatluseShopetrian-mystery-dungeonetrian-odyssey-and-the-mystery-dungeonnintendonorth-americasrelease-dateWed, 03 Dec 2014 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/10/mario-dons-the-stars-and-stripes-for-smash-bros-alternate/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/10/mario-dons-the-stars-and-stripes-for-smash-bros-alternate/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/10/mario-dons-the-stars-and-stripes-for-smash-bros-alternate/#comments
Though Mario now spends his days jumping on turtles and racing go-karts throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, he's a boy from Brooklyn, and this latest Super Smash Bros. costume demonstrates his patriotic spirit.

Unveiled by the Japanese Super Smash Bros.Twitter account, the above costume is a Yankee Doodle homage to the duds Mario is seen wearing on the cover of classic 8-bit golf game NES Open Tournament Golf. Though that is a wildly esoteric reference, it provides a nice contrast to Mario's staid red and blue overalls.

Why this image is appearing now and not, say, six days ago is a mystery.

Recent stories about virtual reality headsets, gaming PCs for living rooms and pizza-ordering apps that minimize human interaction all share an origin: CES 2014, a convention dedicated to showcasing advancements in technology that might become as commonplace as smartphones, or as muted in success as the Betamax. It's fun to try and predict future trends, but Gallup's recent poll of Americans concerning their household tech might help to keep our expectations grounded.

Yeah, the perfect-for-Blu-ray 4K TVs are closing in on feasible price points. That's potentially attractive to the 80 percent of respondents with DVD or Blu-Ray players, but how quickly will the 58 percent of households that still own VCRs upgrade? Millions of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles have foundnew homes across the globe, but only 41 percent of respondents have any form of gaming console underneath their TVs.

Valve and its business partners hope to find a market for Steam Machines, but just 57 percent of respondents reported desktop computers in their homes. With 38 percent noting ownership of tablets and the increased presence of laptops from 30 percent in 2005 to 64 percent in 2013, finding consumers willing to buy a gaming-oriented PC for their living rooms might be tough.

We're hoping Gallup conducts another poll in 2015, in which 100 percent of responders will confirm the presence of hover boards and flying cars in their selection of vehicles.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adoption-rateamericaamerican-homestechnologySat, 11 Jan 2014 13:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/26/pro-evolution-soccer-2014-corners-americas-in-september/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/26/pro-evolution-soccer-2014-corners-americas-in-september/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/26/pro-evolution-soccer-2014-corners-americas-in-september/#comments
North, Central, and South America net the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 on September 24, matching the street date of rival FIFA 14. Konami's latest soccer sim iteration is also coming to PC and PSP - yes, PSP - and going by traditions those entries should arrive a little later in the year.

PES 2014 remains undated for Europe, however, and it'll be interesting to see if it tries to steal a march on FIFA 14 in the games' key region - FIFA 14 goes Euro on September 27.

The big introduction to this year's Pro Evo is Konami's new FOX engine, the same engine being used for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5. In his recent hands-on time with it, Joystiq's sportsball maestro Mike Suszek said, "It's the Fox Engine that might set Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 apart from FIFA, not a lack of playable clubs."

The last of a four-part developer diary series for Assassin's Creed 3 is titled "America, by Land and Sea," and it takes place entirely in the skies above Morocco. Strange.

Not really - the final dev diary describes the historical accuracy of Assassin's Creed 3's main cities, positing that citizens of those areas today should get a creepy "I've been here before" feeling while wandering the digital streets. It also tackles the frontier and Connor's tree-running ability, along with epic naval battles. These are different than "navel" battles, bear in mind.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Americaassassins-creed-3dev-diarydeveloper-diarymicrosoftpcplaystationps3UbisoftusxboxWed, 19 Sep 2012 16:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/13/watch-american-and-european-wii-u-streams-live/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/13/watch-american-and-european-wii-u-streams-live/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/13/watch-american-and-european-wii-u-streams-live/#comments With the Japanese prelude come and gone, Nintendo are set to announce the price and release date for Wii U in North America and Europe. Nintendo of America is hosting a Wii U event in New York, while Nintendo of Europe has a Wii U Nintendo Direct broadcast.

We've got both streams for you right here, with the Nintendo of America one up above and the European one after the jump just below (just like in georgaphy.) Both streams start at 10am ET (3pm UK time, 7am Pacific), and we'll have all the info for you here on Joystiq as it comes in.

Update: It's all over on both sides of the ocean. For your perusal, the American launch details and the European launch details.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americaeuropelaunchnintendorelease-datestreamwii-uThu, 13 Sep 2012 09:45:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/31/hungary-spanks-america-in-dragon-age-origins-contest/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/31/hungary-spanks-america-in-dragon-age-origins-contest/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/31/hungary-spanks-america-in-dragon-age-origins-contest/#comments
The dust from the 24-hour Dragon Age: Origins Warden's Quest tournament has begun to settle, and the sleep-deprived, blood-soaked winner has been declared: The team representing the nation of Hungary. The Hungarians trailed in the rankings until the fourth round of the contest, when they rallied to pass the BioWare Community team (who finished in second place). We guess you could say they were just Hungarier for victory than everyone else.

America, however, must have only been slightly peckish, ending up with a disappointing ninth place (or next-to-last place) finish, and getting eliminated in the third round of the competition. This might be a small blow to our egos, but hey -- at least we're still better at dragon slaying than the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Booyah!

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americabiowarecontestdragon-age-originseaElectronic-ArtshungaryMicrosofttournamentXbox-360Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/27/survey-says-americans-play-more-games-than-europeans/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/27/survey-says-americans-play-more-games-than-europeans/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/27/survey-says-americans-play-more-games-than-europeans/#commentsToday's Gamers recently conducted a survey of over 13,000 internet users from the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the United States to see gaming trends across the various nations. According to their findings, a larger percentage of American respondents said they played video games of any kind: 87% of American males said they play games, versus 74% in the UK, 67% in Germany, and 66% in France. Not only are more Americans playing, they're spending much more time with games: the average American male spent 11.5 hours playing each week, versus 6.5 hours in the UK, 5.2 hours in Germany, and 7.1 hours in France. (Female respondents were less likely to game than males, but the ratios remain nearly identical.)

According to the survey, MMO games are vastly more popular in the US than in Europe, with 21% of respondents saying they play games in virtual worlds. In most other surveyed European nations, that rate is halved, at 10 or 11% percent, depending on the country.

While these numbers paint a very optimistic view of gaming as a whole, these results should -- as with all surveys -- be taken with a grain of salt. Considering internet access is a prerequisite for taking the survey, it excludes people most likely not to play video games. Regardless, the full report features a great deal of information ready for you graph-lovers to peruse through.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americaeuropestatisticssurveytodays-gamersTue, 27 Oct 2009 03:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/18/microsoft-speaks-out-on-obamas-xbox-remarks/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/18/microsoft-speaks-out-on-obamas-xbox-remarks/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/18/microsoft-speaks-out-on-obamas-xbox-remarks/#comments
President Obama hasn't exactly been known for his positive stance on kids playing tons of video games (even though he owns a Wii and ran campaign ads on Xbox Live, ahem). Recently in a speech given to the NAACP, he pointedly noted that parents should be "putting away the Xbox," as well as other crazy ideas -- like "reading to your children" and "helping them with their homework." What-ever, President Obama.

Microsoft has responded with backhanded diplomacy, dropping knowledge on the US President in a statement released to the AP that says, "We agree with President Obama that it's a time for families to work together so that kids use media in ways that are safe, healthy and balanced ... Xbox 360 is the only console gaming system that has a timer feature allowing parents to set time limits for their kids, as well as parent controls to enable parents to set limits on what their kids are playing and watching." At this time, it's still unclear whether Microsoft followed that up with, "Word to your mother!"

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americabarack-obamachildrenmicrosoftobamausaXbox-360Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/05/study-two-out-of-three-in-u-s-play-casual-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/05/study-two-out-of-three-in-u-s-play-casual-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/05/study-two-out-of-three-in-u-s-play-casual-games/#commentsFiled under: Business, CasualAnyone who keeps up with gaming news knows that casual games are the biggestthing since sorted gems. But man, if a new report is to be believed, casual gaming is more popular than even we thought.

The report, from research firm Interpret, estimates that 145 million U.S. residents aged 12 to 65 played casual games in 2007. That's almost two-thirds of the roughly 222 million people in that age range. And just because they're casual games doesn't mean they're played casually -- the report estimates players spent an average of 5.1 hours per week on casual games in the fourth quarter of '07. That's nearly 740 million man hours spent playing casual games per week, outpacing activities like magazine and newspaper reading.

Even though most of these gamers only play games on free sites like EA's Pogo, Interpret still estimates industry revenues of $400 to $700 million by 2010. That's a drop in the bucket compared to estimates of $40 billion in total industry revenues by that point, but if we were a small developer, we sure we wouldn't mind having a piece of it.

Developer Kuju opens new studios like most of us open Twinkies, though with less tearing of cellophane and swallowing of delicious creme filling. Since March 2007 the UK-based company has opened up three new specialized branches, including kid-friendly Nik Nak, online-focused doublesix, and Sheffield-based Chemistry, which looks to Epic's popular Unreal Engine as its tool of choice.

Now Kuju has added yet another studio to its collection with Kuju America, a new San Francisco office focused on the casual games space. Kuju's North American face is already pounding out code for its first title, which it describes on its website as a "high profile IP," something that doesn't mesh all that well in our brains when thinking of games with a casual flair -- though the company teases that more information is "due to be announced soon."

It's worth noting that Kuju America is a licensed dev for the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, and DS. On the one hand, it's hard to get too excited about anything with so little to go on. On the other hand, however, we sure could go for a Twinkie.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americakujuukusThu, 31 Jan 2008 08:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/29/gran-turismo-5-prologue-in-the-us-on-april-17th/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/29/gran-turismo-5-prologue-in-the-us-on-april-17th/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/29/gran-turismo-5-prologue-in-the-us-on-april-17th/#comments
We're not sure whether Gran Turismo 5 Prologueis meant to be a demo, a hype-builder or some sort of mid-development cash-in for Gran Turismo 5 (probably all three), but we do now know that it will be made available in America on April 17th. The game can be purchased on a retail Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download, just like Warhawk. Whichever way you buy it you'll be paying the same - $39.99, though the Blu-Ray version will come with a HD behind the scenes video titled "Beyond The Apex".

The 60+ cars included can be raced online with up to 15 other people. Polyphony Digital will be holding official online races and Gran Turismo TV will allow you to watch motoring shows from all over the world via the PlayStation Network. Not bad for a demo, even if it does cost $40.

Americans, bust out the boxing gloves; Europeans, bust out the champagne. A representative from EA has stated that European game developers are inherently more creative than American developers. This is either a tad insulting, or a very nice compliment (you know, depending on where you're from).

Nick Button-Brown, director of business development at EA Partners, spoke with GamesIndustry.biz recently, and admitted that U.S.-based game studios are less willing to take chances than their European counterparts, and are therefore less likely to innovate in the industry.

To be fair, he also argues that multiculturalism plays a big role in the creative output of Europe. Still, Button-Brown states that a paradigm-shifting game like Grand Theft Auto would have never come out of America. Stand up for yourselves, America! There are obvious exceptions to Button-Brown's argument. What games are the pride of the United States?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americaeaElectronic-ArtseuropeTue, 11 Dec 2007 18:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/17/if-the-ds-didnt-have-a-head-start-in-the-us/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/17/if-the-ds-didnt-have-a-head-start-in-the-us/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/17/if-the-ds-didnt-have-a-head-start-in-the-us/#commentsHere's some food for thought: what if the DS didn't have a four-month head-start ahead of the PSP? Both systems have had at least 22 months of sales in America. Looking at cumulative sales, this chart from VGcharts.org shows that the PSP has sold more than the DS in their first 22 months of sales. Certainly, Japan is a completely different story ... but does that really matter for gamers in the US? Americans love their PSP ... even if the video gaming press doesn't want to admit it.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americadsdsfanboynintendo dsNintendoDssalesusvg chartsVgChartsWed, 17 Jan 2007 18:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/23/the-great-divide-uk-vs-us-censorship/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/23/the-great-divide-uk-vs-us-censorship/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/23/the-great-divide-uk-vs-us-censorship/#commentsFiled under: Culture, BusinessWhen listing the differences between the UK and the USA one usually thinks of spelling, gastronomy and driving on the wrong side of the road, rather than film and game censorship. However, this fascinating post at Terra Nova (along with its thriving comments thread) delves into the differences between the BBFC and MPAA, as well as cultural factors, to try and establish why American consumers are less happy to have age restrictions on games.

The whole thread gives an international perspective to current debates over the censorship of violent games. While sexual content in games can be treated as pornography, the lack of existing US legislation covering violence across other media means that singling games out is plain unfair. In the UK, however, ratings of violent and extremely realistic games fall under the Video Recordings Act, which covers any recorded video media.

We have to wonder when games will get a category of their own and stand alongside more established media such as film and TV. In the meantime, to find out more about international game classification, Wikipedia's a great place to begin.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>americaatlanticbbfccensorshipculturalcultural differencesCulturalDifferencesdifferenceselspaesrbeuropeinternationalmpaapegiratingsukusTue, 23 May 2006 07:57:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/02/enchant-arm-coming-to-america/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/02/enchant-arm-coming-to-america/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/02/enchant-arm-coming-to-america/#commentsFiled under: Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGsFrom Software's RPG title [eM] -eNCHANT arM-, currently
released in Japan, will be making its American and European debut this summer under the title Enchanted Arms.
It's the first Japanese RPG to appear on the Xbox 360, and by the time it's released, Oblivion fans may well
be looking for a new RPG to play.

IGN has previewed the game, describing it as an
"eccentric, epic title rich with character, story, and an evolving combat system". While its review scores in
Japan have been reasonably low, the quirky nature of
Enchanted Arms may increase its worldwide appeal, paving the way for more Japanese titles to travel abroad.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>360americaanticipatedenchant armEnchantArmenchanted armsEnchantedArmsjapannew releasesNewReleasesportreleasesrpgtranslationupcomingxbox 360Xbox-360Xbox360Tue, 02 May 2006 18:56:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/27/governmental-ads-give-your-thumbs-a-rest/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/27/governmental-ads-give-your-thumbs-a-rest/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/27/governmental-ads-give-your-thumbs-a-rest/#commentsFiled under: Culture, BusinessAn ad campaign from the Centers for Disease Control is pulling no punches with their tagline "Give your
thumbs a rest. Play for real." Supposedly encouraging active lifestyles rather than the way of the couch potato,
the ad features an in-game style image of obese baseball players on an overgrown field.

As Water Cooler
Games points out, this seems to have been created with no thought for its target audience. In particular, the ad mocks
rather than reaches out to gamers; not the best way to connect with a demographic. Also, as governmental propaganda
goes, jumping on the anti-gaming bandwagon is a disturbing trend--a sideline political campaign is
one thing, but a government-approved message seems overkill.